In a battle of Division II powers, Lindenwood eked out men’s and women’s wins over hosts Delta State at the Christmas Invite in Cleveland, Mississippi.
Men’s Meet
Lindenwood was led on the men’s side by sophomore breaststroker Mateusz Pacholczyk, who hit NCAA Division II “A” cuts in both the 100 and 200 breast. His 54.18 won the 100 and he went 1:58.28 to take the 200 and punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
Also hitting an “A: cut were freshmen backstrokers Jakub Jonczyk and Serghei Golban. Jonczyk went 47.28 to win the 100 back, and Golban was 47.74 for second, both hitting the A standard.
Lindenwood topped Delta State to win the invite 1188-1079. The host Delta State program also got an NCAA “A” cut from butterflyer Vlad Zinca, who went 47.81 in prelims to earn an NCAA bid and shatter the Delta State school record. He won the event with a 48.07 in finals.
Birmingham Southern took third in the meet with 718 points. They got an event win from sophomore Drew Priede, who was 1:41.06 to take the 200 free.
Fourth overall went to Lindenwood University – Belleville. Their top finisher was freshman Sebastian Wegner, who took fourth in two races on day 2. Wegner was fourth in the 100 fly with a 50.53, plus fourth in the 100 back at 52.92.
Women’s Meet
The Lindenwood women knocked off Delta State 1130 to 1002. That’s a big finish for Lindenwood, which finished 18th at last year’s NCAAs compared to Delta State’s 12th.
The Lady Lions were led by Alecia McGillivray, who won two events and hit two NCAA “A” cuts. In the 1650 free, she went 16:47.00 to just nip Delta State’s Melanie Tombers (16:47.14). Both women were under the A cut and the old pool record, and Tombers broke the Delta State school record.
They repeated the feat in the 400 IM, though this event went to Tombers. The Delta State sophomore was 4:17.16 to knock off McGillivray’s 4:17.54. Once again, both were under the pool record and the “A” cut.
In addition, Delta State’s Anastasia Klyarovska led off the 400 medley relay, hitting her own “A” cut in 54.53, also a new pool record. She would go on later in the night to win the individual 100 back in 55.06.
Birmingham Southern took third as a team with 745 points. They got a pair of third-place finishes from freshman breaststroker Marilyn Rowell. The first-year was 1:08.14 in the 100 and 2:29.12 in the 200.
Lindenwood University – Belleville wound up fourth as a team, and also got a pair of third-place finishes individually from a freshman. They came courtesy of Hristina Krasteva, who was 59.45 in the 100 back and 2:10.67 in the 200 back.